Nov 29 We're Dreaming of a Green Christmas

The festive season is finally here!! For anyone who knows us we are Christmas enthusiasts. The comforting food, Christmas lights, movies, decorations, snow (come on Wales let us please have one real snow day this year), time spent with loved ones and festive jumpers makes us warm and fuzzy inside.

This year we wanted to make an effort to create a more sustainable way to celebrate the season. Unfortunately Christmas can be a time of excessive waste and far from eco friendly. We know it's really tempting to feel like you need to purchase new decorations every year, maybe even a new fake tree and hang that extra set of lights up, however we have a fantastic and fun alternative for you. A way to make your Christmas a little more green which involves bringing new delightful decorations into your home, but in a much more sustainable way.

Last weekend we attended a wreath making workshop at Swansea Museum in South Wales, run by local artist Sara Holden.

It's something we had been wanting to try for a while but were not confident enough to attempt to make one on our own. So we were delighted to hear about the workshop and it turned out to be so much fun! We began with willow stems, a completely natural way to make the base of your wreath. We were thrilled to learn that the base could be used year after year, meaning we can continue to make different seasonal wreaths and not have to buy or find more willow, totally sustainable! Weaving the willow base was not as hard as we thought, it wasn't incredibly bendy and strong.

After the base was complete we got to start building up the foliage. Sara had gathered incredibly beautiful foliage from her garden. If you don't have a garden we would suggest gathering fallen branches, leaves and pine cones from your nearest park or woodland. Different textures and colours of ferns, holly, fir tree branches, pine cones to name but a few. We chose natural string to hold the pieces together. We felt extremely proud of our creations and felt that it was an opportunity to really appreciate the intricate details of all of the different plants. All of the materials we chose came from nature so are completely biodegradable.

The best part of the course was that everyone was able to make a completely unique decorations. All the ladies at the course put a lot of love into creating their own, it was so great to come together as a community to take part in a mindful practice and connect with the beauty of decoration that nature has provided us. A special thanks to Swansea Museum for hosting this event and to Sara for her incredible wellth of knowledge, passion and expertise. We encourage everyone to make their own!

The event inspired us to get even more creative. We have dehydrated oranges and lemons to make Christmas garlands and tree decorations, foraged for pine cones and holly. What eco friendly practices and traditions do you have for the Christmas season? We'd love to hear from you and are always looking for new ways to enjoy a green Christmas!